The Belarus national football team secured three victories for the first time in its history following a 2–0 away win against San Marino in the UEFA Nations League, head coach Viktor Goncharenko said.
Kirill Gomanov and Artyom Kontsevoy scored the goals during the first half in San Marino, sealing a clean-sheet victory that pushed the team into uncharted territory. Goncharenko said that the squad attempted to dictate the pace from the opening whistle to establish an early advantage.
“We tried to play actively from the first minutes in order to score quickly,” Goncharenko told the Belarusian Football Federation (ABFF) Telegram channel. “In some measure we succeeded, that is, both one goal and the second happened in the first half.”
The manager added that he wanted a third goal to ease pressure as chances materialized across both halves, though the team occasionally lacked the desired attacking thrust between the lines. Despite those offensive limitations, the result delivered a historic winning run.
Belarus holds second place in the group with 10 points, remaining within striking distance of the automatic promotion spot. Albania leads the group with 12 points, while Finland sits in third place with 7 points and San Marino anchors the bottom of the table without a point.
If Belarus finishes at the top of the group standings, the team will earn promotion to League B for the next edition of the competition. The runners-up in each group advance to promotion play-off fixtures.
The team closes out its competitive calendar on Sunday, November 15, when Belarus faces group leader Albania in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.
“We did this before the sixth round,” Goncharenko said regarding the preservation of their promotion hopes. “Therefore, we need to recover now in order to play well against the Albania team.”
